5 Foods You Should Never Microwave

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Zapping food in the microwave is the easy option, but sometimes it’s worth doing things the slow way. Microwaves heat food from the inside out (which is why they’re fast), as opposed to regular ovens, which heat from the outside in.

Some nutritional theories suggest that nuking veggies in the microwave strips them of their disease-fighting nutrients. On the flip side, there’s research that suggests “the microwave is one of the best ways to retain your food’s vitamins and minerals.” That said, some foods aren’t meant to be microwaved. Here’s the rundown on what you should avoid.

1. Celery And Spinach

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The heat from the microwave can cause nitrates in veggies like carrots, beets, celery and spinach to turn toxic and release carcinogenic properties when reheated. Each time you reheat nitrates in veggies, they become slightly more toxic. Your best bet is to eat these kinds of veggies raw and fresh.

2. Eggs

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Be careful if you’re microwaving hard boiled eggs. A whole egg could could explode when rapid boiling happens inside the shell. The pressure from the steam build-up inside might be too much for the little egg to handle. And just because the explosion didn’t happen in the microwave doesn’t mean you’re safe. It could happen once the egg is on your plate or as you’re about to eat it. You could cut your egg into a few pieces to avoid this conundrum.

3. Chicken

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You can probably tell after refrigerating chicken that the texture changes. It’s not in your head. The protein composition actually does change in chicken when it gets cold, and then it changes again when you reheat it in the microwave. The change in the proteins could lead to digestion problems so your best bet is to use the regular oven.

4. Oily Foods

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Different types of cooking oil can withstand different levels of heat, but past a certain level things can get a little risky. When oils are heated to unhealthy levels of heat, toxic fumes and hazardous substances called free radicals are produced. Free radicals can lead to certain diseases like cancer so you should avoid putting overly oily foods in the microwave.

5. Frozen Meat

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It can be tempting to microwave your frozen meat to speed up the defrosting process. Microwaves heat food unevenly and can leave cold spots in the food. This can harbor dangerous bacteria like E.coli and salmonella. Cold areas can be sources of food-borne diseases, so it’s probably worth it to defrost your meat overnight in the fridge.